Abdullah Shafique’s maiden double century and Agha Salman’s brisk ton puts Pakistan in the driving seat on Day 3

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Abdullah Shafique scored his maiden Test double century

Pakistani batters made light work of the Sri Lankan bowlers on Day 3 of the ongoing second Test, which is being played at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Having already gone past the hosts’ total of 166 runs on Day 2, the Shaheens ended the third day’s play at a score of 563-5, enjoying a massive lead of 397 runs.

Pakistan started the day at 177-2 after Day 2 saw only 10 overs being bowled due to bad weather. The dangerous-looking Asitha Fernando and Prabhat Jayasuriya dried up the runs early in the day and forced skipper Babar Azam to have a few nervy moments as well.

On the other hand, Abdullah Shafique pulled out a boundary in the 41st over to cross the 90-run mark followed by two consecutive boundaries and a single in the 45th over to bring up his fourth century in Test cricket. 

But in the very next over, he almost lost his wicket by presenting Jayasuriya with a caught & bowled opportunity, but the ball narrowly missed the latter’s palms. The duo responded well to that with a couple of boundaries but skipper Babar Azam was trapped in front of the stumps in the 48th over courtesy of an excellent delivery from Jayasuriya.

After the dismissal of the skipper, Saud Shakeel and Shafique decided not to attack the bowlers straightaway after losing a wicket, before eventually scoring more freely as the spin duo of Jaysuriya and Ramesh Mendis went for boundaries in the 56th and the 57th over.

Shakeel could have been dismissed on a score of 17 runs in the 58th over while trying to flick a delivery by Jayasuriya, he struck the ball straight at the forward short-leg. However, Nishan Madushka could not get his fingers to the ball in time to complete the catch.

There were not many more notable moments from the first session as the two batters hardly gave any of Sri Lanka’s bowlers a chance to get back in the game, with Pakistan going to lunch with a comfortable score of 273-3 on the board.

Since a day was washed out and the team was on the verge of whitewashing the Lankan Lions at their den, Pakistan understandably decided to score runs at a better pace in the second session of the day. Having got the memo, both Shafique and Shakeel dispatched the odd bad delivery to the stands with an inside-out shot over the cover region producing a maximum, the highlight of the day.

In the 76th over, Shafique reached the 150-run mark, while only five overs later, Shakeel also completed his half-century with a beautiful cover drive resulting in a boundary. However, the southpaw could not capitalize on that to go big again, as he was dismissed via LBW by Fernando in the same over who utilized the new ball for instant impact.

The veteran Sarfaraz Ahmed was welcomed by Fernando in a displeasing manner with a sharp bouncer on the very first delivery he faced that hit the helmet and went away to the fence. The wicket-keeper batter batted in the same manner, with the focus being not only on scoring runs but scoring them fast. At a time when Sarfaraz was looking in great nick, having scored 14 runs in 22 balls, he was taken off the field after it was deemed to be a concussion.

Sri Lanka could have been back in for business had they cleaned up Pakistan’s lower-middle order quickly, but that was not the case as new batter Agha Salman also played the knock of his life.

Playing his eighth Test match, the 29-year-old showed no signs of nerves as because of his and Shafique’s stroke play, Pakistan managed to bring up 400 runs in only the 101st over, after what was a comparatively slow start in the beginning.

Abdullah Shafique and Agha Salman complimented each other on an excellent partnership

With maximums and boundaries, Salman stepped up the attacking intent, pulling out the cut shots and the reverse sweeps from his arsenal. Agha brought up his fifth Test half-century in only 62 deliveries and had added 10 runs more to his tally by the time Shafique went from 196 runs to 199 runs.

But finally, in the 109th over, the Pakistani opening batter did complete his maiden double century in Test cricket, continuing the tradition set by Shakeel in the first Test. He could add only one run more to his tally before becoming Jayasuriya’s second wicket of the game as he holed out at long-off while trying to up the ante. With 201 runs on the board, Shafique managed to put on the highest score by a visiting opening batter at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

With Sarfaraz being deemed unfit to take any further part in the game, Mickey Arthur and his think tank opted for the logical choice by drafting Mohammad Rizwan into the team and coming on as a concussion substitute, Pakistan’s number one wicket-keeper for limited overs looked in the sensational nick.

Rizwan got off to a flying start with a maximum down the ground as Salman scored two consecutive boundaries in the 121st over down the third man to complete his second century in the format. 

Salman continued the onslaught and maintained the brisk run rate with boundaries all over the park as every Sri Lankan bowler was punished by the end of Day 3. Salman remained unbeaten on 132 runs, with Rizwan batting on 37 runs and the visitors will continue with a lead of 397 runs on Day 4.

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